Elmhurst

By Dr. Krystyn Moon

Bounded by Dale and Pelham Streets, Fall Hill Avenue, and the parking lots for the James Monroe High School and a property owned by Mary Washington Hospital, Elmhurst is a large subdivision that covers nine city blocks. John F. Gouldman and Benjamin T. Pitts, two prominent real estate developers and politicians, subdivided Elmhurst before Fredericksburg annexed the land in 1940. The subdivision’s name came from the Elmhurst estate, which still stands today on Fall Hill Avenue and is located within the subdivision. Gouldman and Pitts purchased this property in 1934 at an auction to pay off the debts of Columbus W. Jones.1 Jones, a well-to-do merchant and insurance agent, had bought Elmhurst in 1907 from the Elms family, who ran a dairy farm that Jones continued until his death in September 1933. In 1936, Gouldman and Pitts submitted their plans to redevelop Elmhurst’s dairy into a subdivision to the Spotsylvania courthouse and began to sell individual lots a year later.2

Illustration 1: Plat for Elmhurst Subdivision, 1934. Courtesy, Fredericksburg City Courthouse.

Unlike other subdivisions in Fredericksburg, Elmhurst’s developers used a deed of dedication, a legal instrument submitted to a courthouse that subdivides land into individual parcels without actually selling any land. A deed of dedication can include covenants, which apply to all parcels in the subdivision and thereby streamline the development process. Gouldman and Pitts inserted several covenants into their deed of dedication, such as minimum costs for building materials; regulations on fence construction, roof lines, and setbacks; and a requirement that all structures be single-family, detached residences. The subdivision’s racial covenant forbade the land from being transferred to or occupied by anyone “other than white persons” for ninety-nine years from August 1, 1936, the date on which the deed of dedication was signed.3 The length of the restriction marked a significant departure from other subdivisions in Fredericksburg, which ran for much shorter durations. It also reflected a growing movement among developers to manipulate the “rule against perpetuities” or RAP, a principle in property law that covenants were typically enforced for one generation, or about twenty-to-twenty-five years. The exceptional length of Elmhurst’s racial restriction and its insertion into individual land deeds became a concern for Gouldman and Pitts and at least one building contractor, John C. Gallahan, who had bought and sold several lots in Elmhurst.4 At issue was the phrase, “ninety-nine years from this date,” which was inserted into Elmhurst’s original 1936 deed of dedication, a 1948 deed of rededication, and each individual bargain & sale deed. In 1952, Gouldman’s heirs, Pitts, and Gallahan submitted to the Fredericksburg courthouse a deed of confirmation that stated “that it was not their intention… to enlarge the effective period of the racial restriction to any greater extent than was created by imposition and recordation of the restrictions with the original dedication and rededication.”5 Thus, for parcels purchased prior to the rededication, the racial exclusion period started in 1936, while the racial restriction on those parcels sold after the rededication started on November 1, 1948, the date on which that document was submitted to the courthouse. The start date for Elmhurst’s racial restriction was not tied to the date of individual lot sales. Finally, it is also important to note that the submission of Gouldman and Pitts’ deed of rededication occurred less than eight months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Shelley v. Kraemer (1948) that racial covenants were unenforceable in the courts. 

The white individuals and families who purchased lots in the Elmhurst subdivision worked either in the region’s growing industrial sector or as local professionals. Gouldman and Pitts sold individual lots, giving buyers the opportunity to design their own homes, as long as  they met the covenants laid out in the deed of dedication. After World War II, Pitts, who had been elected to the state senate after serving on city council, told a reporter for The Free Lance- Star that he intended to build fifty brick homes with five-to-seven rooms each, but he never did.6 

Because Gouldman and Pitts did not construct homes, Elmhurst had a mixture of architectural styles and materials reflecting regional trends. Henry W. Clem, an operator at the nearby Sylvania Plant and one of the first people to buy a lot in Elmhurst, hired local carpenter George C. Canaday (also spelled Cannaday) to build a one-and-one half story wood frame Craftsman Bungalow for his family in 1937 for around $3,000.7 Based on the 1940 U.S. Census, the Clems had recently moved from Stafford County to Fredericksburg where they worked in local factories.8 Lawrence D. and Louise M. Estes also purchased a lot in Elmhurst in 1937, a few months after they had eloped to Rockville, Maryland. Lawrence, who spent most of his early life in Fredericksburg, worked at the National Bank. It is unknown if Louise worked before marrying Lawrence; she was originally from Lexington, Virginia.9 Their home, built by another local carpenter, Lloyd W. Jett, was a one-story brick Minimalist Traditional Cape Cod structure that was also valued at $3,000.10 

Clem and Estes homes in the Elmhurst subdivision still stand today. 

  1. Book 69, Page 288 (1934), Fredericksburg City Courthouse, Fredericksburg, Virginia. ↩︎
  2. Book 116, Page 435 (1936), Spotsylvania County Courthouse, Spotsylvania County, Virginia; “C. W. Jones Expires of Heart Ailment,” The Free Lance-Star September 2, 1933, 1-2; 1930 U.S. Census, Courtland District, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, Enumeration District 89-5, Sheet 12-B, accessed January 22, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/; “Elmhurst,” Interactive Database of the Virginia Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places, The Virginia Department of Historic Resources, accessed January 22, 2025, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/111-5267/. ↩︎
  3. Book 116, Page 435 (1937), Spotsylvania County Courthouse, Spotsylvania County, Virginia; Book 86, Page 145 (1948), Fredericksburg City Courthouse, Fredericksburg, Virginia.  ↩︎
  4. 1950 U.S. Census, Fredericksburg, Virginia, Enumeration District 108-2, Sheet 27; accessed January 22, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/.  ↩︎
  5. Book 92, Page 17 (1952), Fredericksburg City Courthouse, Fredericksburg, Virginia; Book 86, Page 145 (1948), Fredericksburg City Courthouse, Fredericksburg, Virginia. ↩︎
  6. “Pitts Planning to Erect 5 Theatres,” The Freelance Star December 13, 1946, 1. ↩︎
  7. 10 Property Sales Here during April,” The Freelance Star May 6, 1937, 4; “10 New Dwellings Started in April,” The Freelance Star May 11, 1937, 1; “Fredericksburg, Virginia List of Permits to Build 1937, Sorted by Street,” Surviving Fredericksburg Building Permits, accessed January 22, 2025, http://resources.umwhisp.org/Fredericksburg/building_permits/permits%20to%20build_1937.htm; 1930 U.S. Census, Chancellor District, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, Enumeration District 89-4, Sheet 8B; accessed January 22, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/.    ↩︎
  8. 1940 U.S. Census, Fredericksburg, Virginia, Enumeration District 107-3, Sheet 61B; accessed January 22, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/. ↩︎
  9. 31 Realty Deals Recorded in May,” The Freelance Star June 1, 1938, 1; “Get Rockville License,” The Freelance Star April 7, 1937, 1; “Election is Held by National Bank,” The Freelance Star January 12, 1937, 4.  ↩︎
  10. “Permits Issued for 8 Dwellings,” The Freelance Star July 7, 1938, 3; “Fredericksburg, Virginia List of Permits to Build 1938, Sorted by Street,” Surviving Fredericksburg Building Permits, accessed January 22, 2025, http://resources.umwhisp.org/Fredericksburg/building_permits/permits%20to%20build_1938.htm; 1930 U.S. Census, Falmouth, Stafford County, Virginia, Enumeration District 90-4, 13A, accessed January 22, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/.  ↩︎